Courts disallow charges

Because the charges were unlawful if a claim was defended and likely to go before a judge, often the solicitors withdrew them. This is from a letter from Restons to Whitehaven County Court in 2007 involving a charge of £1,397.68:

And on this occasion, where they tried to claim the charges the judge dismissed the claim out of hand (from a transcript of a hearing in Eastbourne County Court):

It was indeed a percentage calculation, of 16.4%, added to the debt before the solicitors had even written one letter. However, most claims against debtors will have been undefended and the charges will have been literally “rubber stamped”, in addition to the costs allowed by the court.